Six Tests of Digibalba
by Frost Deejn
Summary: Inspired by the Kiche Mayan myth of the Hero Twins. Ken and Gatomon are trapped in a strange dimension. To escape, Ken must defeat a powerful demon in a ballgame...with Gatomon's life at stake. Ken/Gatomon friendship.
1. Dark Prognostication

Disclaimer: I do not own _Digimon_ and never will. It's a painful fact, but I've come to accept it and so should you. The basic premise is taken from the story of the Hero Twins, Hunapu and Xbalenque (with the "X" pronounced like the English "Sh," a convention I follow in the names of some digimon in this story). The title is a play on the Six Tests of Xibalba (the Mayan underworld) from the _Popol Vuh._

Chronology: Takes place two years after the defeat of Myotismon at the end of Season Two.

The Six Tests of Digibalba

Chapter 1: Dark Prognostication

Gloomy, mercurial clouds spun wildly overhead. To one side was a deserted street, to the other a grassy park, also strangely devoid of life. The quiet, raven-haired boy of thirteen walked down the sidewalk, looking around uncertainly, not entirely sure where on Earth he was and what on Earth he was doing there. The ground dissolved beneath his feet, and he fell into darkness. He found himself in a vast plain of black mud. The sky above was a dull reddish, without a sun or moon. He stood up and turned around slowly. He saw a black-brick wall with a single door. His blue eyes narrowed. This seemed...familiar. Eerily familiar.

As he started walking toward the door, the mud started bubbling and sucking. A second wall exploded from the mud. It curved inward to meet the first wall at the far ends, forming an eye-shaped enclosure.

"Who are you?" an inhumanly deep voice echoed.

"What?" the boy asked. He had heard the question clearly, but didn't understand why the voice would ask such a thing.

"WHO ARE YOU?" The voice came louder and more threatening.

"Ken Ichijouji."

"No," the voice said.

Ken's eyebrow wrinkled. "What?"

"No. You are the Digimon Emperor."

"No," Ken said slowly. "I'm Ken Ichijouji. You must have misheard me. I'm the partner of my digimon, the son of my parents, and the friend of the digidestined."

"You are wrong!" the voice sounded adamant, and eerily amused. "You are the Digimon Emperor. Partner of oppression, son of darkness, friend of hatred."

Ken shook his head. "No!" he shouted. "I am Ken Ichijouji!"

"You may have escaped for now, but we will get you back surely."

Fog as black as oblivion rose out of the mud. It swirled around itself, gaining strength and solidifying, coiled around Ken like a serpent, then started closing in.

"No!" Ken thrashed and fell out of bed. He sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"What is it, Ken?" Wormmon inquired drowsily.

Before he could answer, the door opened and Ken's parents entered.

"Did you have a nightmare, Honey?" his mother asked.

"That sounded like a bad one," his father remarked.

It took Ken a moment to find his voice. "Yeah." He smiled sleepily. "But it's over now. I'm okay now. Thanks."

His parents murmured words of comfort and left the room. Ken climbed back into bed, and Wormmon scurried onto his stomach. They both closed their eyes. But Ken didn't go back to sleep. He didn't want to make his parents worry; he never wanted them to have to worry about him again. That was why he hadn't told them how far from okay he was. This nightmare had been different. So real.


	2. The Fall

Disclaimer: I did not create and do not own _Digimon_.

Chapter 2: The Fall

The following afternoon Ken and Wormmon went to a warm, sunny part of the digital world, where they planned on meeting with some of the other digidestined.

T.K., Davis, and Kari were doing homework on the grass—or, rather, their homework books were coincidentally open on the grass. Davis and T.K. were playing with their digimon, Kari was picking flowers while Gatomon napped in her lap.

Ever since Myotismon's defeat, the digidestined children had been able to come and go to the digital world as they pleased. Everyone knew the digiworld existed, so they didn't have to be furtive about it. They went often, even though they rarely had a reason to go. Except for the occasional tremor or rift as the digiworld reformed itself from Myotismon's attack, there were no real threats to speak of, a fact for which they were all grateful.

"Hey, Ken!" T.K. shouted in greeting.

"Hi, guys," Ken replied pleasantly as he and Wormmon found comfortable seats in the lush grass.

Davis stopped playing. "Ken, can you help me figure out my math? It was supposed to be due today, but I told my teacher a snimon ate my homework."

"Sure. No problem, Davis." Ken explained the homework easily, and Davis found to his surprise that solving two-variable algebra through substitution was so easy it was kind of fun.

After a while, Ken noticed that Kari hadn't said anything. She seemed distracted. "What's wrong, Kari?" he asked.

"Nothing..."

"She had a nightmare last night," T.K. explained quietly.

Ken spoke his next words so only Kari could hear. "You too?"

She looked up, surprised, but said nothing. Ken went back to talking and joking with the other two. A few minutes later, Kari walked off into the woods, followed by Gatomon. Ken followed as soon as he thought his departure wouldn't be noticed, leaving Wormmon playing tag with Veemon and Patamon. He caught up with Kari, and they walked side by side in silence for a minute.

"It seemed so _real_," Kari finally said.

"I know," Ken replied. "I was walking along a sidewalk by a park..."

"I was at my school," Kari commented, "But..."

"It was so empty," Ken commenced. "It almost felt..."

"Dead," said Kari. "And then I was falling through darkness, and landed in..."

"Mud. And the sky was..."

"Red?" Kari inquired. "And then there was a wall..."

"A black brick wall with a door," Ken took up. "And then..."

"Another wall. I was trapped. And..."

They silently looked at each other as what they were saying sank in.

"What did the voice say to you?" Ken asked Kari.

"It said I wasn't really digidestined, and it said I would come to them, whatever that means. You?"

"It said evil would get me back." Another long pause.

"Do you think it has something to do with the Dark Ocean?" Kari asked hesitantly.

"I don't know. Maybe. Should we tell the others?"

Kari thought for a moment. "Maybe we shouldn't make them worry until we have some idea what it all means."

Ken nodded.

"Well _I _think you should tell them," Gatomon stated authoritatively, making the two nervous digidestined children jump. "It's just that keeping things to yourselves has never really turned out to be a good idea in the past."

"She may be right," Ken conceded.

"Let's head back. We can decide on the way," suggested Kari. They turned around and began retracing the trail. "Gatomon is right," she admitted a couple of minutes later. "It must mean something that we both had almost the same dream. That's pretty strange."

Ken nodded. "I'd just rather not make them worry, if we can help it.

Gatomon suddenly stopped. "Shhh. I heard something." Her eyes scanned the tree branches. "There." She pointed to a dark shadow among the leaves. Ken and Kari could see nothing in the diluted light of the forest. "Four of them," Gatomon continued.

One suddenly moved, revealing itself to the humans

"Is that an owl?" Ken asked.

"Yes," Kari answered.

Other than having only one leg, it looked like a perfectly normal owl

"Isn't it odd for a digimon to look like a real animal?"

"You should see the other three," Gatomon suggested.

The owl stretched its wings and effortlessly fluttered to the ground, blocking the path. Another landed behind them. This one had two legs, but was bright red in color, with green on its tail and wings. One with razor-sharp feathers landed to their left. When Kari saw the fourth one land to their right, she stifled a scream. It was nothing but a human skull with owl wings.

"Kari, look out!" Gatomon launched herself at her partner.

"Darkness Door!" the owls shouted in unison.

Kari collided with a tree and grabbed a branch as the ground between the owls dissolved. Ken fell with only a grunt of surprise. Gatomon had successfully pushed her partner to safety, but was herself knocked back into the hole.

"Gatomon!" Kari made a grab at her digimon, but missed.

The four owlmon dove after the two falling figures. The hole retracted behind them.


	3. House of Darkness

Disclaimer: I didn't create and don't own _Digimon_.

House of Darkness

"Are you okay, Ken?" asked Gatomon, who had landed on her feet.

Ken pushed himself into a sitting position. "I think so. Where are we?"

Gatomon surveyed the scene. Dark trees surrounded them. Through the bare branches, dull red sky was visible. "I wish I knew. I've never seen this place before."

The four owlmon landed on nearby branches. "Sorry, we are," the bright red one said.

"Merely not we wanted to cause the your fear," said the razor-feathered one.

"Merely these the our orders," the one-legged owlmon said. "To bring you here, to this place."

"The Place of Fright," said the winged skull.

"We therefore the messengers; the owlmon. I therefore MacawOwlmon," said the brightly colored one.

"I ArrowOwlmon," said the one with sharp feathers.

"I also OneLegOwlmon."

"I therefore SkullOwlmon."

Gatomon and Ken exchanged nervous glances. As they both knew, digimon with "skull" in their names weren't usually good news.

"What do you want with us?" Ken asked.

"Merely not we know," said MacawOwlmon.

"Merely enter the this door," SkullOwlmon said.

"This we are instructed to say to you," concluded OneLegOwlmon.

The Owlmon rearranged themselves into a square. "Darkness Door!" A black door formed between them.

Gatomon and Ken looked at each other uncertainly. "Well," Gatomon said, "can you think of any other way to get out of here?"

"No," Ken admitted. "But I have a bad feeling about this."

"So do I." Gatomon walked to the door, and then ran inside. Ken followed her. The door disappeared, leaving them in absolute darkness.

"Great. Now what?" Gatomon pouted.

"I thought Gatomon could see in the dark," Ken teased with a smile in his voice that wasn't on his lips.

"Not when it's this dark…Wait. What's that?"

Ken saw it, too: something was glowing. They walked towards it, and were surprised to find a digimon, a birdlike creature with feathers that glowed bright red.

"Who is it?" the digimon asked.

Ken decided to answer. "I'm..."

"I know who _you_ are!" the digimon snapped. It looked at Gatomon. "Who's _she?_"

"Who are _you?"_ Gatomon retorted.

"I asked you first!" the bird digimon exclaimed.

"Well I'm more powerful than you," Gatomon smugly replied.

Ken was becoming impatient. "Gatomon..." he sighed in irritation, then turned to the avian digimon. "Can you help us find a way out of here?"

"I might, but I won't because _she's_ rude."

"Then will you at least give us one of your tail feathers so we can find our way out?" he pleaded.

"Hmmmm. Okay. _If_ you answer a riddle."

"A riddle?" Ken asked in confusion. "Okay."

The bird staightened up grandly and cleared its throat. "This existed first. This will exist last. This is contained in every closed box. No box is open until this enters. This is all that matter's. This is no matter. This is powerless. This is power. This hides. This reveals. What is this?"

"What kind of a stupid riddle is that?" Gatomon asked.

"What kind of stupid digimon are you?" the bird retorted.

"A very hungry one," the cat said, "who's hankering for some birdmon."

"Even try it, kitty!"

Ken shook his head. They were making it hard to think. But that didn't really matter: he already knew the answer. "Darkness and Light." The two digimon were startled by the human's sudden interruption. He met the glowing avian's stare challengingly. "Isn't it."

The bird digimon looked shocked. "How did you figure that out so fast?"

"It wasn't hard," Ken explained. "Clearly, every other sentence referred to opposites: black is all colors mixed together, thus all matter, while light is energy, not matter. Darkness is also the absence of light, so would be in a closed box. Light equals energy; energy equals power. It was, in fact, blatantly obvious, especially since this place seems to be a showcase of darkness and light—light in the form of you. May we please have a feather now?"

The bird digimon obliged, handing Ken a tail feather glowing bright orange. Ken thanked it and nodded in farewell. As he and Gatomon walked away, the parrot-like digimon called after him: "Remember the riddle, Ken Ichijouji. It means so much more than you know."

Out of earshot of the strange creature, Ken addressed Gatomon. "What seemed strange about that encounter?"

"That digimon knew you, but not me. It doesn't make a lick of sense."

Then they found a door.


	4. House of Blades

Disclaimer: I did not create and do not own _Digimon_.

House of Blades

The digimon rushed into a bright room. She shaded her eyes and squinted. The human ran in behind her and almost stumbled over her. Ken's eyes adjusted to the light faster than the feline's, but he couldn't think of words to express his sudden terror.

"Uh oh," Gatomon said when she could discern the situation. "This isn't good."

Blademon. Lots of blademon. Tiny pinpoints of light in place of the eyes on creatures otherwise entirely made of razor-sharp knives turned toward the intruders with what could only be assumed to be menacing glares.

"Maybe we can explain our situation to them?" Ken suggested.

"Do you see any ears?" Gatomon countered.

"Blade shower!" one of the blademon shouted, and knives fell where Gatomon had been a moment before.

"Thanks," the digimon said in Ken's ear as the boy ran. "Really. If you hadn't grabbed me right at the last second, I'd be kitty kibble. You're a real pal."

Ken didn't waste breath acknowledging the digimon's gratitude: the blademon were right behind them. It was lucky Ken was athletic.

"Oh, great. Now what?" Gatomon turned in her rescuer's arms to see what had made him suddenly stop. She groaned. "Skelemon."

Gatomon leaped to the ground to face the new threat while Ken turned to confront the blademon.

"This strikes me as bad," commented Gatomon.

"You should probably talk to someone about your habit of making witty remarks in life-threatening situations," Ken deadpanned. "Any suggestions on what to do now?"

Gatomon frowned. "Dodge like crazy?"

"Skeleton Strike!" The skelemon attacked.

"Lightning Paw!" Gatomon countered not very effectively.

"Blade Shower!"

"Ken, watch out!" Gatomon shouted. Ken ducked as a blademon leaped over him.

It looked hopeless.

"If I could only digivolve!" Gatomon complained in frustration.

"Owl Arrow!" Razorlike feathers smashed against a skelemon

"Owl Claw!" OneLegOwlmon attacked from above.

"Macaw Glare!"

"Skull Wing!"

The four owlmon drove back the skelemon. Gatomon and Ken still had the blademon to worry about. They were soon surrounded. They sensed the final attack in preparation.

"Wait!" Ken was thinking fast. "You're not going to kill us."

The blademon exchanged curious glances.

"I mean, why would you? We're obviously no threat to you. We were forced into your realm, so you can't call us trespassers. We aren't eating your food. The only reason you would have to kill us is if you were going to eat us."

The blademon nodded vigorously to each other, as though this were the best idea they'd heard all day.

Ken almost panicked. "But of course you couldn't eat us; you don't even have mouths! You need mouths to eat us. But you have to eat something, right?" They nodded. "Right, but, of course, the only thing you could eat in order to give your bodies the raw material to make blades would be other blademon." He hoped they were exactly as bright as they acted.

His gamble paid off. The blademon instantly turned on each other and attacked savagely. Ken and Gatomon made their escape.

The owlmon flew after them. "They follow you surely, the skelemon," Macawmon told them.

"Merely make haste," said ArrowOwlmon.

The owlmon lead them to the next door, then flew away.


	5. House of Cold

Disclaimer: I did not create and do not own _Digimon_.

House of Cold

"I've never had to walk so far in snow," Gatomon whined. "My paws are numb."

Only slowing slightly, Ken scooped the cat digimon into his arms. The wind bombarded them with microscopic specks of ice. All around was a smooth grey glare. They had been walking for several hours and had yet to find another door. In spite of the biting cold, Ken was reminded of a hot, sandy, windy desert long ago. The memory was not pleasant, and Ken was beginning to entertain thoughts that they would never get back and he would never see Wormmon and the others again.

A billow of snow blown up by the wind temporarily blocked their view. When the flurry settled, Ken saw a break in the landscape's monotony.

"Gatomon," he asked, "Do you happen to know who that digimon is?"

Gatomon shifted from her relatively warm balled-up position. "No, I've never seen her before."

The digimon was humanoid, clad in a white dress trimmed in dark blue fur with a large aquamarine gem pendant hanging from a sash around her waist. She had light blue skin and even lighter blue hair, which served to give an overall impression of a being chiseled entirely from glacial ice, as did her sharp features. She stood perfectly still, staring at them. Her breath didn't condense in the cold, the way the human's and feline digimon's did.

When the ice digimon continued to not move, Ken put Gatomon down and walked towards her. "Hello," he said formally. "My name is..."

"Cryocicle!" The digimon's long, thin hand suddenly held an icicle, which she hurled in Ken's direction. He ducked and rolled as a second icicle exploded next to him. He leaped to his feet and began to run. Gatomon was right behind him. Their escape was halted by a wall of ice that suddenly appeared in front of them. They turned. The blue digimon shot a couple more cryocicles at them. They lunged in opposite directions.

Ken couldn't see Gatomon. He paused and looked around before another icy explosion sent him running again. He realized the attacks were focused on him, and wondered how she kept managing to miss.

"Why are you attacking us!" he shouted. A frightening possible answer briefly played in his head, but he was fairly certain he had, indeed, never met this digimon before.

"Cryocicle!"

Ken put on a burst of speed to avoid the attack. "What did we do to yo-aahhh!" He slipped on a patch of snow-covered ice, lost his balance, and crashed flat.

"Cryocicle!" An explosion directly in front of him gave Ken an instant of sheer terror, followed by a revelation: she was missing on _purpose._

"Why are you attacking us?" he asked again. "Who are you?"

Gatomon sped towards him. "Uh, Ken? I would hate to interrupt yourinterrogation, but we've got trouble."

A party of skelemon was running in their direction.

"Oh great. Look." Gatomon pointed past the blue ice digimon. "The door. We're trapped."

"I don't think so," Ken picked up Gatomon and started running toward the ice digimon.

"Ken, what are you doing!"

As he expected, the ice woman didn't attack. Her sharp features showed hints of confusion and surprise, and perhaps a tiny bit of admiration as they ran right past her.

Gatomon sighed with relief, then looked back over Ken's shoulder. "Ken, I'd hate to rain on your parade, but the skelemon are gaining on us."

"Almost there," he huffed as he forced his soccer-trained muscles as fast as they could carry him through the door. Then he stumbled as he tried to stop too fast after seeing what awaited them on the other side.


	6. House of Jaguars

Disclaimer: Disclaimed.

House of Jaguars

Jaguarmon. Everywhere jaguarmon. And they all looked hungry. The closest dozen salivating felines stood up and advanced on the two unfortunate new arrivals.

"I'll handle this," Gatomon claimed with more confidence than she felt. She faced the menacing jaguarmon. "Listen, if you don't eat us, we'll make you a deal."

Ken had always admired Gatomon's self-confidents and assertiveness, which some would call pushy. She was more like Yolei than Kari, really (though Yolei didn't have quite the attitude). Just another example of how digidestined were chosen for their compatibility with their digimon, not necessarily their similarity. Ken also found it interesting that his insights seemed to come more often than not under the pressure of extreme and immediate danger.

"If you don't eat us, there could be a bunch of delicious skelemon in it for you," Gatomon continued. She just needed to buy time. Seconds, if they were lucky.

Though the jaguarmon were hungry and impatient, they agreed to Gatomon's terms. Ken and Gatomon were nearly to the far door when the skelemon entered. They winced at the sounds of jaguarmon teeth crunching through bones. The skelemon didn't stand a chance.


	7. House of Fire

Disclaimer: Standard disclaimer. You've read it a hundred times.

House of Fire

The house wasn't exactly on fire: the house _was_ fire. The walls on both sides were fountains of flame inclined at slight angles to meet far above. Occasional fireballs spewed from holes in the floor. As Gatomon and Ken tentatively walked into the room, the door behind them was engulfed in flame and disappeared. The heat was nearly unbearable.

"At least it's not cold," Gatomon said blandly.

"Way to think positive, Gatomon." Ken looked around nervously. "I suggest we get out of here before we run into whatever digimon lives here. I don't think I want to meet it." Strands of his longish black hair were sticking to his forehead in damp clumps.

A shout suddenly rose above the crackle of the flame. "Pyrospiral!"

They both managed to dodge the swirling comet of fire. The flames of the wall parted and their attacker entered. Another humanoid. She had a dress like fire flickering behind glass, trimmed with ruby red. A ruby belt held a large gemstone the color of blue flame. Her skin was gold, her wild hair blue at the roots, then yellow fading to orange fading to red at the tips. She stared at them from white-hot eyes. They braced themselves for the next attack.

"Where's the other one?" the fiery digimon asked.

"What?" Ken said after a moment of confused silence.

"There were supposed to be two humans, no digimon."

Gatomon huffed. "Why wasn't I invited?"

"What I want to know is why we were brought here in the first place." As Ken spoke, a droplet of sweat slid down his face.

"Oh forgive me. You must be hot. Here." Their hostess waved her hand, causing the fire to subside. "Let me introduce myself: I am Pyromon, keeper of the House of Fire. You must be the boy Ken. I wish they'd told me you were so handsome." She shifted her gaze to Gatomon. "I'm afraid I don't know who you are. I was only briefed on the humans, not their digimon."

"I'm Gatomon. And what do you want with Kari?"

"Kari, the girl with the Crest of Light. I don't know what my lord wants with her, exactly. My only instructions were to attack them, but not to kill them."

"So that's why the other digimon attacked us," Ken concluded. "And why the ice digimon didn't kill me when she had the chance."

"That would be my sister, Cryomon," Pyromon informed them. "We don't get along well."

"I thought digimon didn't have families," Ken whispered to Gatomon.

"So did I," she replied

"Underworld digimon are a little bit different," Pyromon said, having overheard them. She didn't elaborate.

Ken took the opportunity to ask the question that had been bothering him. "Who is your lord?"

"Balaammon. You'll probably meet him soon enough."

"When can we get out of here?" Gatomon asked.

"I don't know," Pyromon said sympathetically. "I'm not even sure if Balaammon's plans can go through without the girl."

"Is that why you stopped attacking us?" Ken inquired.

"My natural curiosity got the best of me. Anyway, the next house…" she frowned and looked distracted. "In the next house," she suddenly sounded grave, "as soon as you walk through the door, run left along the wall until you reach a tunnel. Hide there until it gets light, then it will be safe."

Ken contemplated that advice. "I suppose we should be on our way," he finally said.

"Yes, you should," Pyromon didn't sound happy about it. "I'll show you the way to the door." They walked down the fiery hallway until they reached the door at the other end. "Remember what I told you," she said as a farewell. "Be careful: I hope to see you again someday. Alive."


	8. House of Bats

Disclaimer: I do not and never have owned _Digimon_.

House of Bats

They entered a dank, nearly pitch black cavern. They could barely see movement above their heads. Then they heard quiet, high-pitched squeaks, which rapidly increased in frequency and volume.

"Oh, great," Gatomon's voice conveyed restrained panic. "Batmon."

The digimon and human dashed along the wall. A deafening wail resonated through the cavern behind them. The wall beside them crumbled to pebbles. A whoosh of leathery wings alerted them that they were being chased.

"Impaling Fang!"

Gatomon twirled around and deflected the attack with her tail ring, then returned her attention to running, only to discover with horror that Ken was no longer ahead of her.

"Ken? Ken!" She kept running, but a giant batmon landed in front of her. She saw it clearly for the first time: larger than a human, covered in dark brown fur, terrible fangs prominently displayed, blood-red eyes…

Gatomon's momentum would have carried her right into the creature's clutches, but just as the batmon dove for her, arms flashed out of the cave wall and grabbed her.

"Gotcha," Ken panted as he pulled Gatomon into a lightless, claustrophobically narrow crevice.

"Thanks. Now I owe you two," she breathed.

"Um, Gatomon?"

"Yes?"

"Could you please take your claws out of my arm?"

"Oh. Yeah. Sorry." Gatomon disentangled herself and dropped to the ground. She walked to the mouth of the tunnel, but leaped back when the batmon beat its wings and screeched in fury, trying to squeeze through the narrow opening. Her fur stood on end. Ken had never seen her so nervous.

"Pyromon said the danger will be over when it gets light," he said comfortingly.

"Yeah," Gatomon did a good job of sounding unconcerned. "Thanks again for saving my hide. Really."

"Don't mention it," Ken said dismissively.

"It's just…I feel so helpless without Kari!" Gatomon admitted.

"I know," Ken said. "Without Wormmon…"

Wormmon. Would he ever see him again? Would he and Gatomon ever get back? Sure, they would probably escape the batmon, but what would they face next? Would he die without ever really telling his friends how he felt, how much they meant to him? His gratitude—a constant outpouring of gratitude that he couldn't possibly express in words….would they ever understand?

"Ken? Are you crying?"

Ken flicked tears off his face. "Sorry. I just…"

If he had been able to see Gatomon, he would have recognized a soft expression that he often saw on his mother's face. She conveyed it in her voice. "Don't worry. We'll get back. I miss them too."

She climbed into Ken's lap, and he stroked her fur, much like Kari would have. "Thank you, Gatomon."

"For what?"

"For not telling the others about this little outburst of emotion when we get back, for one thing."

Gatomon chuckled. She took a deep breath and thought for a moment, then decided the time was right to broach a topic she'd wanted to discuss with Ken for a long time, but had never known exactly how to put it in words. "Ken, you're always so sweet and selfless. You're so much like Kari in some ways. But…um…you and I have a lot in common, too."

"Mmhmm," Ken agreed. "From the beginning, I felt like you understood me better than the others. I had no idea why, of course."

"I guess we're kind of comrades, huh?"

Ken almost laughed. "Fellow former evil tools of darkness? We should start a club."

Gatomon snorted. "Yeah, 'Evil Henchmen Anonymous'." Ken rewarded her joke with a small laugh. Gatomon smiled, then frowned. "The others don't really like to talk about it, do they?"

"Not always," Ken said. "I think they're trying to protect our feelings by not reminding us. I'm grateful for it, most of the time."

"Sometimes it almost seems like they're trying to forget about it."

"Sometimes it almost seems like they're succeeding," Ken added.

"Exactly. They act like they'd rather repress it than accept it. But that's part of who we are, and we can't forget about it. No matter how much we might want to sometimes."

"All the time," Ken corrected. "I wish it never happened, the whole trying-to-take-over-the-world portion of my life. But it did happen, no matter how much I try to wish it away. I've learned it's better to accept it and learn from it than try to ignore it, even with all the guilt and regret."

"But we have to remember," Gatomon quickly interjected, "that we were being used by Myotismon, so we can't blame ourselves completely."

"I can," Ken sighed. "That's one thing that's very different about us: you couldn't remember not working for Myotismon, could you. And when you found Kari you turned against him. I had Wormmon before I became evil; I remembered my life before. And even when the digidestined tried to show me the error of my ways, I just went on being evil. I might have been an unwitting pawn, but I wasn't a puppet. Myotismon only recognized the dark spirit that was already in me and exploited it."

"Well, what about your brother?" she asked. "Everyone is vulnerable when someone they love dies, and you were so young!"

"Yes, I was vulnerable," Ken said, "but I wasn't a victim."

"Neither was I," Gatomon insisted. "Even if I was under Myotismon's influence, I did things with my own conscious choice that I had to forgive myself for." She stopped and thought for a moment. "Ken, have you really forgiven yourself? Honestly?"

"Sometimes," he said. "It's a gradual process. It's still hard sometimes. Maybe it will never completely go away. I'm all right with that."

"But the important thing is that we learn from our mistakes and use them to make us stronger, to help us see things more clearly," Gatomon said.

"Yes, but still…I wish I could travel back in time to before I became the emperor and tell myself how much pain it will cause, both for me and for so many others."

Gatomon frowned. "I'm sorry I brought it up."

"Don't be," Ken told her. "It felt good to talk about it. Thank you."

They fell into a contemplative silence, which Gatomon broke. "Ken, why don't you ever talk about your brother?"

"Because it's so painful," he said simply.

"You really loved him a lot."

"Yes. I miss him so much. I think I became the emperor partly so I wouldn't have to feel sad. But that doesn't mean I wasn't."

Flashback

The Digimon Emperor sat at the controls of his base. Wormmon scurried to his master's side. The emperor was complaining about something or other, and Wormmon worked up the guts to interrupt him. "Ken, has it occurred to you that you just feel angry so you don't feel sad?"

"What makes you think that?" the emperor said threateningly.

"Well…has it occurred to you that you're doing all this because of _him_?"

Ken stood and glared down at his digimon. "Never, ever mention _him_!" he hissed. His fingers flexed at his whip, but he changed his mind and instead turned and stormed out of the control room. He walked the cold, bare halls of his fortress until he came to a door that opened to a kind of balcony. The sky was a dull, pale twilight blue, and completely empty. The emperor stared at it, willing his heart to be so empty and cold. He had a bottle of bubble solution. He blew bubbles, as big as he could, watched them float over the edge and popped. Suddenly angry, he threw down the bottle and watched contemptuously as the fluid oozed over the floor.

Present

"…I was nothing if not sad."

Gatomon wasn't sure she understood the full extent of Ken's words. "But you can't keep blaming yourself. For being the emperor, maybe, but it would just be wrong to blame yourself for what happened to your brother."

"What makes you think I do?" Ken asked. He couldn't remember saying anything that implied that. "I don't blame myself for that…anymore. But I'll always have regrets. And that's no excuse for taking over the digital world."

"Everyone makes mistakes."

Ken huffed, a little angrily. "True. Everyone makes mistakes, as they keep reminding me, but not everyone tries to enslave an entire world. That's kind of beyond the scope of a simple error in judgment, isn't it?"

Gatomon didn't say anything for a second, then she smiled. "I was right; we do have a lot in common."

"Yes, we do," Ken agreed, and they fell into a comfortable silence.

Eventually, Ken found himself precariously near sleep. The realization roused him to alertness. Something bothered him. At first, he couldn't put his finger on it. Something was just different.

"Gatomon," he whispered.

She opened her drowsy eyes. "What?"

"I don't hear the batmon anymore. Do you think it's light?"

"I can't tell. I'll go check." She jumped off his lap and made her way toward the opening.

Ken lost sight of her in the dark. He heard the patter of her paws hitting the rock, then a rustling, then silence. "What do you see, Gatomon?" he asked. "Is it dawn?"

Silence.

"Gatomon, where did you go?" He became worried when she still didn't answer. He listened carefully. Worry turned to terror when he heard leathery wing beats and a triumphant high-pitched screech. He ran to the entrance in time to see a giant deathbatmon carrying a white kitten digimon out a hole in the top of the cave, through which dark gray-blue sky was visible. The departing deathbatmon was followed by an echoing scream: "GAAAAATOOOOOMONNNNNN!"


	9. Balaammon

Disclaimer: I don't own _Digimon_. Let's leave it at that.

Balaammon

Gatomon was rudely deposited on a stone tile floor in front of an elaborate throne. Sitting on this throne was a giant black cat digimon. He wore necklaces, bracelets, anklets, and belts of colorful feathers interspersed with bones, with various animal skulls for pendants. He looked at the smaller digimon with disdain and irritation. Around the shadowy, spacious room, Gatomon saw various other terrifying digimon watching her intently.

"Well…well…well," the black feline spoke, "look what the bat dragged in. I find it hard to believe this pathetic creature is the protector of the Digidestined of Light."

"Who are you?" Gatomon demanded.

"I am Balaammon, ruler of this…"

"_You're_ Balaammon?" she spat. "What do you want with Kari!"

"You'll find out in good time," he replied coldly. "Tzabkaanmon, Sinanmon, tie her up."

Monsters resembling a rattlesnake and a scorpion came forward. Gatomon soon found herself wrapped tightly in rope, and hanging upside-down.

"Now," said Balaammon, "we wait for your friend the Digidestined of Kindness to take the bait."

It didn't take long. Less than an hour later, Ken burst through the door. His eyes sought Gatomon, then locked onto her like the room wasn't full of terrifying monsters.

"You do know this is a trap, right?" Gatomon's voice didn't hold even a trace of the fear she felt.

Ken started walking towards her, but realized he couldn't possibly free her under the circumstances. "Let her go!" he demanded.

"You're a brave little human," Balaammon said approvingly. "Barging in here with all of these demons, and demanding the life of this runt. She's not even your digimon; she's Kari's. How unfortunate she couldn't be here."

"What do you want with us?" Ken asked.

"You're power." Balaammon sounded as if this should be obvious. "Light and Dark—both powerful on their own, but if I wielded them together…I would be almost invincible."

"Our power," Ken repeated incredulously. "How exactly did you think you could get it?"

Balaammon tapped his claw on the armrest of his stone throne as he spoke. "At first I thought I could trick you into releasing it by having some of my servants attack you, but I think that plan was fundamentally flawed. Your power doesn't quite work like that, I think. First, of course, I had to get you down here. I sent my messengers to bring you."

The four owlmon landed in the rafters above the throne. "Sorry we are, you digidestined. You digimon as well," they apologized. "Merely we messengers. Merely we are ordered, merely we obey."

Balaammon silenced them with a harsh look. "Your latent power makes you very sensitive to psychic impressions. I took advantage of that to send you dreams that would make you separate from your group to discuss them. This part of the plan worked perfectly. But then my incompetent messengers got her"—he glared at Gatomon—"instead of the girl."

"So your plan failed. Why don't you let us go," Ken said. His words had a threatening undercurrent.

"You didn't let me finish," Balaammon chided. "I now believe the only way someone could use your power is if you give it up willingly. My new plan was to corrupt you and Kari, and the three of us could wield your combined power together."

"Corrupt Kari?" Ken snickered. "Good luck."

"I was more worried about you, actually. Sometimes doing evil once makes it easier to fall into it again—like a drug. But in other cases once someone turns from evil to good, no force can make him turn back—like chicken pox, you might say. I fear you may be the latter. Which is why you are free to go. The owlmon will create a portal that will take you back to the digital world."

"And what about Gatomon?" The human's hands clenched into fists.

Balaammon smiled, displaying long, yellowed fangs. "We will keep her here, send a message to the Digidestined of Light, and torture her to death if her partner does not come."

"No way!" Ken shouted.

Balaammon adopted a self-satisfied expression. "You are so predictable, human. There is another solution I'm considering. One, I think, you will find acceptable."

"What?"

"My sources tell me you're very good at ball. We enjoy a good ballgame around here even more than torture and carnage. Play me, one-on-one, no powers involved. If you win, you and Gatomon will both be returned unharmed."

"And if you win?" Ken asked suspiciously.

"You give me access to your power. And we keep Gatomon."

Ken examined Balaammon's muscular bulk. "How do I know you'll keep your end of the bargain?"

"We denizens of the demon underworld may love to cheat, steal, and backstab—big fans of your administration, by the way—but we are incapable of breaking promises. It simply isn't in our nature. Perhaps whatever power put the worlds together gave us this as our major handicap. Besides, how do I know you won't break your end of the bargain if you lose? We'd kill you, of course, but you'd probably prefer that. I guess we'll just have to trust each other. Is it a deal?"

"Ken, NO!" Gatomon shouted.

Ken looked back and forth from Gatomon to Balaammon. "Deal," he said darkly


	10. The Ballgame

Disclaimer: I have no legal or creative rights to _Digimon_.

Note: The rules of the ancient Mesoamerican ballgame varied from place to place and time to time. I describe them here to the best of my understanding.

The Ballgame

The ballcourt was packed with underworld digimon, including Pyromon, Cryomon, and the owlmon. Gambling seemed to be rampant. Ken hoped at least some of them had money on him. He wore a padded leather uniform he'd been given. The writing on the walls and the architecture of Balaammon's palace had seemed familiar, but it wasn't until Ken saw the ballcourt that he realized they were similar to the Mayan ruins he'd seen in Mexico.

Balaammon strutted into the arena. He no longer wore his morbid jewelry, but his padded uniform was dyed a rich emerald green.

Ken didn't think he stood a chance, but when he looked up at Gatomon—tied up, hanging from a dead tree, and guarded by deathbatmon—he resolved to play his best game ever.

A crocodilian digimon dropped the ball into the court. Ken went through the rules in his mind: hit the ball with any body part but feet or hands, get it through one of the two vertical hoops on the sides of the court for a point. Game ends when sunlight no longer falls on the floor of the ballcourt. Player with the most points wins. Simple enough.

"Ready?" the crocodile digimon asked.

Balaammon answered affirmative.

Ken took a deep breath, and nodded.

Balaammon started the ball by dropping it and hitting it with his hip. It sped past Ken and collided with the wall. Moving like a giant bouncy ball, it flew back, hit the ground, and bounced off the far wall. Balaammon and Ken rushed for it, but Balaammon was closer. He kneed the ball toward a goal. Ken rushed at it, but was a centimeter behind. The ball passed through the goal, and Ken slammed into the stone wall. The audience cheered. Point one for Balaammon.

The ball was entered again. This time Ken chased it as it sped toward the back. As it bounced off, he redirected it with his shoulder. Even with the thick padding, it stung excruciatingly. Balaammon was already in the ball's trajectory, but Ken ran behind him, jumped as high as he could, and hit the ball with his head. The next instant, he collided with the large digimon, and they both crashed to the ground. Ken saw the ball ricochet off the wall and fall to the ground. He could only tell that he had made the goal by the applause.

He began the next play by dropping the ball and kneeing it across the court. It bounced a few times and overshot the wall. A fan knocked it back in, and Balaammon hit it with his chest. It flew towards the goal, but Ken wasn't called "the Rocket" for nothing. He intercepted the ball, bouncing it off his elbow. The audience's cheers were like an intoxicant to him. He forgot his stinging welts, launched himself off the wall, and got the ball with his thigh, sending it spinning towards the nearest goal. Balaammon knocked it off its path and kneed it to the back wall. It deflected violently and bounced through the other goal.

Ken couldn't help but be deeply impressed.

On the next play the ball bounced at exactly the right angle to stop mid-field and bounce up and down. Unfortunately, Balaammon rushed between Ken and the ball. At first Ken thought the situation was hopeless, but then his competitive instincts knocked his common sense aside and he irrationally decided nothing was impossible. Putting on a burst of speed, Ken ducked below the large digimon's legs, hit the ball with his shin so that it bounced off the wall, then hit it with his hip to bounce it off the wall at a higher angle, then hit it with his head and watched it arch through the air right to the hoop. It all happened so fast that Balaammon, who hadn't slowed down, smashed into Ken only after witnessing the instant of triumph. Some spectators booed, some cheered, and some roared with laughter.

"Go Ken!" Gatomon cheered. The two deathbatmon hanging upside-down beside her were also cheering.

There was less than a centimeter of sunlight touching the playing floor. The audience, now silent with anticipation, watched it eagerly. In all the soccer games Ken had ever played, he'd never seen the crowd so absorbed. His eyes met Balaammon's across the court. Then the ball was dropped. The opposing warriors dashed for it as if their lives depended on it. Ken reached it first and bounced it off his forearm. Balaammon changed direction mid-stride and intercepted the ball, turning around and bouncing it off his back. Ken anticipated the trajectory, made a flying leap, and knocked the ball off its path right before it could reach the goal. Balaammon was on the ball's trail. In a moment, Ken realized, the digimon could have it through the other goal with no problem. Without a moment to recover from his latest intimate encounter with the wall, Ken raced across the court, knocked into Balaammon with as much force as he could, and twisted around to pursue the ball. It bounced back to the other side of the goal. Ken started after it, but Balaammon grabbed his foot, making him fall flat on the ground. The spectators booed. Ken just laughed as he yanked his foot free and sprang directly into a leap to catch up with the ball. He bounced it off his ribcage, and it made an astonishingly accurate bee-line for the goal. Balaammon, leaping higher than any human possibly could have, deflected the ball with his powerful stomach. It hit the ground and rolled to the far wall. Balaammon dove for it and hit it with his elbow—sending it toward the other end of the court—and rolled to his feel agilely. Ken dodged the speeding rubber sphere, watched it bounce off the wall, then knocked it gently with his shoulder, adroitly redirecting it into the hoop, scoring the winning goal.

Euphoria erupted in the assembled crowd. Digimon jumped over the side to personally offer Ken congratulations. Balaammon whispered something to Cryomon, who untied Gatomon, who then ran down to Ken.

"You were GREAT!" she gushed with uncharacteristic enthusiasm.

The batmon also flew down to Ken. They acted almost worshipful.

Balaammon approached, dampening the celebration. "I commend you," he said with a mixture of resentment and awe. "It didn't even cross my mind that you would actually win. I haven't lost a game in years; who would have thought a human could beat me? Well, I am a demon of my word. My owlmon will take you back." He stormed away, muttering about losing his respect and probably his followers for this.

Ken found the owlmon. "Balaammon promised that you would take us back," he said.

Pyromon ran up behind him. "You can't leave yet! We're having a party in honor of your victory. You have to come."

Yes, come you ballplayer. You Gatomon as well. The your honor is feasted surely," the owlmon said.

"I don't know..."

"Oh, come on Ken," Gatomon encouraged. "You earned it."

"Well...okay," he agreed.

"Good then that," said the owlmon.


	11. Going Home

Disclaimer: I have no legal or creative rights to _Digimon_.

Going Home

Though exotic music and dancing and foods Ken didn't want to know the original forms of were not his idea of a victory party, he did have fun. He and Gatomon met several interesting monsters and made a few new friends. While Gatomon spent most of her time flirting with a jaguarmon, Ken found himself discussing the digital underworld with Pyromon, Cryomon, and a couple of strange little demons named Chomakmon and Yaxmon.

"We're not evil," the vulpine digimon Chomakmon informed him. "Not all of us. Not really."

"We're just demons," said Cryomon. "It's what we are, our nature."

Yaxmon, a blue-green digimon who somewhat resembled a peacock crossed with a crab, elaborated. "We are pranksters, tricksters, mischievous imps, but not evil. We defend ourselves when threatened perhaps too readily, but we also are fiercely loyal to our friends, and we make friends easily."

"The thing is: it's hard to tell evil demons from the rest of us. Balaammon could be considered evil, as could Xtoyilmon. Then there's Gruesomon..."

"Don't forget the Fourteen Fallen Lords," said Chomakmon. "They were every bit as evil as anything the digital world or the human world ever dished out. They would make Balaammon look like a philanthropist."

"Who are the Fourteen Fallen Lords?" Ken asked.

"They were powerful demons who worked together to take over the underworld," Cryomon answered. "They ruled with blood and torture. Finally, they were defeated by two brothers whose father they killed and whose mother they tried to kill. Their power was dispersed, but that created an imbalance that shifted the underworld in relation to the other worlds, much as Myotismon's defeat shifted the digital world closer to your world."

"The underworld used to be closer to the human world than the digital world is," said Yaxmon. "Only after the defeat of the Lords did we become more closely tied to the digital world."

"Is that why underworld digimon are so different from digital world digimon?"

"We're not really that different," Cryomon claimed.

"Except we can't digivolve," said Pyromon. "And we're not hatched from eggs; we're born from...kind of explosions of energy. It's very beautiful and interesting to watch."

"I'd like to see one," Ken said. He had always been fascinated by digimon biology.

"You may get a chance, if you come back to visit often," Cryomon said flirtatiously.

Before Ken knew it, midnight came. "My parents must be worried sick about me," Ken said apologetically as he excused himself from the group to find Gatomon.

"I wonder if Kari is still looking for me," Gatomon commented as she went with Ken and the owlmon, accompanied by a delegation of well-wishers. "It's getting so dark."

"Not as well will it be night. Merely light. Merely noon it is now," said ArrowOwlmon. "Merely the our dusk is your dawn."

"When the sun sets on the digital world, it rises in our world," Pyromon clarified. "We're like two sides of one coin."

Ken frowned. "Still, we've been gone a long time. Everyone must be worried."

They said goodbye, and the owlmon opened a portal. Ken and Gatomon stepped into a sunny meadow in the digital world, and the dark underworld disappeared behind them like a dream upon awaking.

Ken blinked as his eyes adjusted, then looked at his digivice. The other digidestined were nearby.

"Ken? Gatomon? Hey guys! I found them!" The voice of Cody shouted. He ran to them. "Where have you guys been? We've been looking everywhere for you!"

"It's a long story," Ken said. The other digidestined were running or flying towards them.

"Gatomon!" Kari shouted with glee. The digimon leaped into her partner's welcoming arms.

Davis ran up to Ken. "We've been looking for you for two days! What happened?"

"How did you get here? I just looked here." Yolei dropped from Aquilamon's back. Before Ken could answer, she threw her arms around him and squeezed hard.

"Kari said you fell down a hole created by four mysterious digimon," T.K. said.

"We went to the digital underworld," Gatomon explained.

"The what?" Armadillomon asked.

"I thought that was just a myth," said Patomon.

"No, it's real," Ken confirmed.

"You must be starving," Kari said with concern.

Ken shook his head. "We had plenty to eat at the party. I'm so tired, though. I haven't slept since..." He had trouble remembering the last time he'd slept. The world was starting to look fuzzy. Gatomon had already fallen asleep in Kari's arms.

"Sounds like you had an interesting time. You have to tell us all about it," Yolei said with her characteristic exuberance.

"Yes," Ken agreed. "Later. Now I have to get home. My parents must be worried sick." But instead of leaving, Ken sat down on the grass, fell over, and started snoring softly.

The end.


End file.
